Up ’til this point in time, life has been seeming a little strange. You see people – I just spent the past week of my life rushing to pack, rushing to the airport, flying overseas, and living in a foreign country… that’s not an average week for me. Also, time is messing with my mind. As if the eight hour time change isn’t weird enough to get used to, spending my days doing things out of the ordinary for me (exploring, shopping, walking everywhere, talking with complete strangers, etc.) has taken its toll. My biological clock is off and I feel as though I cannot judge time anymore. Oddly enough, it has been magnificent. I only get this feeling when I am at my most relaxed. For the past week, I have been living in a vacation.

Splendid as it sounds, today was my day of classes. I’m not too worried about them. One is a German culture kind of class. We will discuss the land, politics, etc. etc. etc., and the other is a religion course on Martin Luther, since we are natürlich in Luther-Stadt. The latter of the two will be a bit more challenging I feel, but hopefully nothing too bad.

Wittenberg has about 40,000 inhabitants, so a little bit larger than my hometown, Galesburg. Around the center square, everyone rides bikes and walks, and there are no large chain stores such as Walmart… it is all “ma&pop” type shops. If you do make it outside the Altstadt (the main market place) you will find streets where cars thrive, but mark my words, never jaywalk around here. You will either A) simply get run over or B) get ticketed by the Polizei because it is illegal. Also, in Germany, everyone MUST recycle. Another law that everyone here takes quite seriously. It is, however, much easier to get into the habit of recycling here, because recycling bins are provided for people everywhere and little supermarkets have a bottle refund machine.

Also, I’ve found while here, in the short time that I have in fact been here, that every day I can find something with which I can challenge myself. I figure, if I’m ever to push myself past my limits, and if I’m ever to go farther than I’ve ever been before, then I must really go for the goals, and never settle for half way. If there was ever a time in my life to test this little theory out, Germany is certainly the place and this is certainly the time to do so.

3 Responses to “Wittenberg: A Little Somethin’-Somethin’”

Looks like fun! I especially like the cross-walk signs. I hope you pose exactly like those pictures when you’re at an intersection. In Singapore they had a sign on a crosswalk that said, “push button for little green man” and I thought it was hilarious. Hope you’re having fun, I miss seeing your little face at 4:00 every day!

Beautiful! I hope we can get back to Europe next year. Maybe you can convince Barry it is worth it. Do they still seat everyone at the same table in restaurants? I loved that because it gave me a chance to practice my German with the locals. Enjoy every moment and take every opportunity to travel when you are not in class – or even when you are:) I told Justin and Sara to check out your website, too. It’s great to follow along on your journey.
Charlotte

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